This invention relates to medical equipment, and more particularly to a safety device for use with conventional hypodermic syringes designed to prevent accidental needle stick injuries by medical personnel, before, after, or during administration of an injection.
The ever increasing spread of diseases transmitted by blood and other bodily fluids, such as the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Hepatitis B, creates a real threat to medical personnel of accidental, inadvertent puncturing of the skin by a syringe needle, which has been in contact with an infected patient, and of the transmittal of the often fatal disease to the unfortunate medical attendant. Despite educational programs carried by many hospitals, accidents continue to happen with an unfortunate effect on medical personnel being infected through coming in contact with bodily fluids of a patient.
Numerous attempts have been made to resolve this problem by proposing to use a protective syringe needle guard which would cover the needle when it is not in use, and thereby prevent the needle from being exposed during the time of injection or immediately following the injection. However, such devices are expensive to manufacture and difficult to use, requiring several steps in preparation of the syringe for utilization and, so far, have not found wide acceptance in the medical profession.
The present invention contemplates the elimination of drawbacks associated with the prior art and provision of an improved syringe holder, which is particularly adapted to prevent exposure of the needle outside of the holder at all times.